Where has July gone?

Uh oh. I'm in the doghouse now. I have only ONE blog entry for July? And it's the third week in? My oh my. Well, I'll tell you what's kept me busy lately. Preparation for grad school and for moving back to Colorado. In all of my spare time in July, I was interviewing and emailing with placements in Denver to set up my grad school internship. I am heading to the University of Denver's Graduate School of Social Work this fall to get my Master's in Social Work (MSW). And things are slowly coming together.

After many emails, interviews, and broken conversations from my computer in my shed, I have decided to accept an internship with Metro CareRing! Their mission statement is this: "Metro CareRing works with families and individuals to meet basic needs and help advocate for solutions to hunger and poverty. We assist people through times of crisis and provide resources for self-reliance," (http://metrocarering.org/). I am excited because it will bring together my commitment to social justice, my passion for sustainability, and my developing interest in food and farming. They are in the last stages of purchasing the land next to their building (18,000 square feet) in order to develop an urban farm. If all goes well, the land should be officially theirs by September, which is when I start. Amazing timing! I'm smiling towards the gods for that one! Now I am in the process of writing my own job description, which again, has taken me away from blogging. For those of you in the Denver area, mark 10.10.10 on your calendars now! We have a big Hunger Relief Day planned, which will also be kicking off the Urban Farm initiative. I'd like you to be there.

So what has changed on the farm since last I wrote? Everything! One thing that seems to have brought a sparkle to both Rachel and Eric's eyes is that we have, in their words, "Finally shifted to a vegetable farm!" In April, May, and June, you remember all of my entries about greenhouse work and plants. As you can see in this picture, we were loading plants in and out of the market vans every week in order to help folks around the city get their own gardens growing. Well, we have officially stopped bringing plants and are now bringing ponies and bushels of fruit and veggies! Eric said that he really likes that shift in the farming season.

I've already talked about the summer squash (zucchini, yellow zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan and mid-east) that we are picking every day but Sundays, but I am long overdue to mention...cucumbers! Or "cukes" as we often called them at Holden Village. We have four types of cucumbers: Burpless, Picklers, Asian, and Slicers. The Burpless and Asian cukes have thinner skin and do not store as long. The Slicers are good for storing a little longer and tend to have fewer pests, and you guessed it, the Picklers are good for pickling! You can eat any of them fresh in salads, though. I think the favorite among us is the Asian cucumber. I'll have to get some pictures of them to prove it (this picture is of a pickler), but they are beautiful! Curvy and spikey and crinkly all at once. And sweet and delicious, too! I tend to be the pickler picker, so you can call me Peter. That's what's in this picture to the left.

We have a very scientific way of deciding when the cukes are ready to pick. Basically, with my size hands, if my thumb and middle finger stretch around any part of it and baaaaaaaarely touch, that means it's ready. If my thumb and middle finger touch each other easily, then it is too early. If they can't reach around the whole thing and touch each other, then I messed up and waited too long! When we were taught about harvesting cukes, we were told a number of times that the length of it doesn't matter. Cucumbers can be wildly varying in length, so really, we are only to pay attention to the circumference.

And by golly, the melons have come in! We have two types of musk melons (NOT Cantelopes, I've been informed, because Cantelopes only grow in Africa! I have not confirmed this information): Halona and Ambrosia. And a few types of Watermelons - red and orange! Watermelons are Eric's favorite thing on the farm to grow and they are hard to determine ripeness, so we haven't learned (and maybe won't?) how/when to harvest those. How do we determine when to harvest the musk melons? They tell us! They change from green to yellow, their webbing increases, and when we tug the vine, it pops right off. I have had quite a few of the "seconds" melons already. I can't tell you how good those taste at four in the afternoon on a humid 98 degree day after picking two fields of squash! (These pictures are from a day way before we were taught to harvest melons - and therefore not allowed to harvest melons. Rachel, Miranda, and I are hidden in the pepper field savoring this early harvest thanks to Rachel's stealthy work. See her knocking on the melon to see if it's ready? See me confirming that it was indeed ready? Don't tell boss!)

And as soon as the melons came in, so did the tomatoes! They're HERE! At last! We just learned to harvest them yesterday afternoon and I had toast with pesto and slices of heirloom tomatos tonight for dinner. Most of the tomatoes are still green, but we did have enough from yesterday's first group harvest to give a pound to each CSA member this morning! For the past two weeks we've brought a few handfuls at a time to market as they began to ripen. We have hybrids, heirlooms, and cherry tomatoes. As I mentioned in past posts, our first tomato planting went through two frosts and bad soil...so Eric continues to say that we are lucky that we are getting anything from that field. They were delayed, though, and are coming in at the same time that our second planting is coming in. In fact, I think the very first ripe tomato that Miranda spotted and harvested a few weeks ago was from the second planting.

And eggs. I think the girls have hit their stride with laying. Today we had 161, and the last few times I've gathered we have had between 159 and 163. That's two baskets worth! Being in the 90th percentile is really good (remember we have 175 total). I think those girls are happy roaming about our fields. Oh, but we saw a small fox this week. Yikes. He was just inside our deer fence. I spotted him and pointed him out to folks, thinking how cute he was. Miranda grounded that thought quickly by pointing out why he was probably lurking around: the chickens! Since starting this farm work I have heard story after story of folks' entire flock being wiped out in one night because of a predator. We all held our breath the night after we saw him. So far so good.

One of the questions I ask my friends who come to visit the farm is if they know what's growing in this field. It's not a great picture, but do YOU know? Here's another picture on the right. Does that help? Well, I have to start by admitting that I wouldn't have known the answer myself before this season. Many folks guess dill. Or fennel. And for those of you that know (mom and dad!)...forgive those of us who grew up as city folk! It's the asparagus field! They are grown ups now! They're taller than me! Although it has been months since we harvested asparagus, we are still spending time in that field...weeding. Remember when I said I li-li-liked weeding? The asparagus field is, well, causing me to reconsider that statement. It's overwhelming, and that's putting it lightly!

Speaking of dill, we have been harvesting dill for a few weeks now. Here are a few shots of the first day that Eric taught us how to harvest it (it was early in the morning! Is Andrew sleeping?):


And basil, too. We bunch both dill and basil in the field with rubber bands. Then we put them in a bushel to go to market or to be doled out to the CSA boxes.I've made a list of several things I need to report back, but time is escaping me now. I am getting up in six hours to do another portion of the Appalachian Trail. Do you think I can do 20 miles in one day off? Wish me luck!

Drip. Drip. Melt.

I didn't write fast enough last week. I was appalled. I was shocked. I didn't know what to do. Why, you ask? Because I had goosebumps! I forgot what it was like to be cold, or cool even! It didn't register to grab a jacket or sweatshirt. I just sat there at our picnic table, eating dinner, and feeling this foreign sensation. Our highs last week got down to 80-something, and at night it got down to 60-something. And it lasted for three days!

But now the heat is back with a vengeance. Or do they call that humidity? To tell you the truth, we heard that all week was supposed be in the "dangerous heat" range, getting up to 100 or more. I think we were all so prepared to be so miserable that it wasn't so bad after all. We made it through yesterday and today, and they are saying that tomorrow will only be in the mid-80's with the chance of a storm. Phew!

We could use some water over here. It has been pretty dry, and I can see it in the plants. As we work our way through the fields, harvesting and weeding and pruning and covering, many plants look droopy. And that's putting it nicely. A few looked like they were going to keel over. That is, until Eric ran the irrigation to them. Then they perked up a bit.




This is the time of year that we begin to have a hard time keeping up with everything on the farm. Unfortunately, the same is reflected in my blog! I can't keep up with all that I am learning. It's happening so fast! And each day flies by so quickly. And it doesn't help that I am interviewing for internships for grad school in all of my free time.

Alas, I am loving it still. I am in awe of the morning sun, the nightly moon, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the abundance. OH, and the amount of heat my little shed can hold in from the day's sun! Hahahahahaha.

Be good to each other in this wild and precious life.

Hiking the AT: Thornton Gap to Compton Gap

I did it! Well, it was a couple weeks ago, but I did it! I finally set out for a long hike on the Appalachian Trail in order to start making my way towards one of my goals this summer. I am hoping to section hike the length of the Appalachian Trail that is within the bounds of Shenandoah National Park. I haven't figured it out exactly, but I think it's about 104 miles or so. I hiked from Thornton Gap (which is the closest point on Skyline Drive from my farm) to Compton Gap, about 22 miles north. And I did it with my pack in about a 24 hour period.

The first day I hiked about 13.5 miles or so. Rachel kindly dropped me off on her lunch break in order for me to set out mid-day. I hardly saw anyone on the path, and at times finally felt far away from the constant foot and car traffic one usually finds within this well-used park. I followed the white marks on the trees as well as the AT symbol in the photo to stay on track. Oh yes, and my map, of course.

I was planning to stop about 4.5 miles sooner, but I realized I had plenty of daylight left when I got to that destination, so I just kept trekking. I passed a hang glider launch site along the way! Wouldn't that be fun? Maybe that will be my reward when I arrive at my goal. This is a picture of the launch site. Remember you can click on the image to see a larger version of it. Anyone want to come with me?

So I stopped at the Gravel Springs AT Shelter. The shelters are just 3-sided shelters made for "through hikers" so that they don't have to pitch a tent every night. The night I was there was pretty busy. There were probably 15 folks in the shelter itself, and then another 10 or so in their solo tents nearby. Then there was an entire boy scout troop taking up the big swatch of land intended for overflow tents like mine. I luckily found my own little site tucked around the corner from everyone just as the sun was setting. I pitched my tent, watched five lanky teenage boyscouts work together (quite hilariously) to hoist their HUGE backpack full of food and pans onto the bear pole, ate a granola bar, and went to bed.

I set my alarm early because I needed to finish before 1pm, when Rachel and I agreed she'd pick me up. I awoke at 6am and left camp by 7am. The last nine miles didn't seem to take as long as I thought they might, so I had time to hike off the trail a bit to see some viewpoints. Oh, and I did see a bear the second day! It was close enough that I didn't stay to take a picture. It was relatively small, too, so I was afraid mama might be somewhere close by. I made a lot of noise, talked to the bear and it's potential mama, and scooted along...quickly.

Overall, I was feeling pretty good about the hike and that I was going to make it. About a mile before the end of the hike, however, I met up with some through hikers on Compton Peak. They were pretty nice, despite the often-talked about through-hiker disdain for section hikers. We talked for a while and then one of them mentioned that the other guy had hiked 30 miles the previous day. And this one had hiked only 22. Oh, and they were hiking up to Front Royal today. I felt suddenly humbled. Hmmmmmmm, well...my accomplishment is relative, I suppose. They were sweet and said it was a great accomplishment for having to work at the farm on either side of my 22 mile hike! I took it, even though I think they were generous to say that.

One fifth down, four fifths to go!

This Little Piggy Went to Market

And not only did I go, I got to run the whole stand myself! I have never been to the Warrenton Market. Miranda has been doing that one since we started heading to markets. However, they wanted someone to alternate with her throughout the summer, and I feel lucky to be the one! Miranda made a map of the stand for me, but left it in her pocket last night when she went home. And Rachel and the kids tend to come to this market mid-morning to help out, but their car broke down. So this was my first time, never having seen it, to do the whole she-bang...and I ended up by myself! It was a pretty slow market, though, so I was able to get everything figured out and organized mostly before the bell rang. (Most markets have a bell that they ring at the beginning and end of market to indicate when vendors are allowed to start selling and are supposed to stop selling.)

We sold out of blueberries and Red Russian kale. We sold most of Rachel's bouquets of flowers and a good amount of summer squash. We sold all but two bunches of chard. For some reason, no one wanted curly kale this week. I suppose that's because they seemed to be opting for our loose leaf lettuce mix that we sell in 8 ounce bags. Oh, and cucumbers were popular today. I think a cucumber sounded good to a lot of people because it was, yet again, a humid, 95-degree day.

Today was long, too. I woke up at 4am. Made my way down to the barn at 4:45am. Loaded up my greens and other veggies to be on the road by 5am. Warrenton is half an hour up the road, so around 5:30am I arrived and started setting up. I ran the market, loaded the car back up, went home and washed my returns from market. Then I took a lunch break at 2:30pm, only to find out the US soccer game was not being streamed on the internet! Darn! I fell asleep just after getting the radio broadcast to come through.

I woke up just in time to head back to work with the crew at 4:30pm. Guess where they were? In the squash patch. You guessed it! And they saved the green zucchs for me. Gee, thanks! I thought I was going to get a little break from my row. Oh, and the long sleeve idea is going swimmingly. No more wrestling spiny things for me. After squash we finished planting a few melons and then covered the melon field. Then we went back to blueberries. Sigh. And stayed there until nearly 8pm! I got a little crabby, despite my best efforts to stay positive. That's a little too much work time in one day for me! I've worked a lot of long days in my past, but I think it's harder because I've always had control over how long I am working. In this case, I had to work until boss said we were done. And today that wasn't until we had finished to the end of the fifth row of blueberries. They are the smallest variety of blueberries that we have, so they take the longest to pick. I probably would have done the same thing if it were my farm, though, because we have sold out of blueberries at the Takoma market every week so far. One week we made $800 from blueberries alone! Each bucket is worth about $80 bucks and we had 10 buckets.

So there you have it. Lots of people ask if I have to wake up really early and if I have to work really long days. Now I can answer: YEP. :)

Whoa, I just fell asleep and then jerked awake because I thought I found a raccoon under some row cover. Goodnight!

Oh wait, one more thing. There was a customer (I don't know him/her) who made this video by our stand at the Charlottesville market last week. It's silly and fun. You should watch it. And see? There are other people who think about blueberries as much as we do...

http://www.marketcentralonline.org/market_central_site/Blog/Entries/2010/6/19_I_found_my_thrill_-.html

Spiny Summer Squash and Gnarly Garlic

Well, first things first, Happy Father's Day, DAD! I love you. I hope you are having a glorious (and less humid than here) day today. I also hope that you know how much I love you and appreciate everything that you have done and sacrificed for us kids. You have been a constant support to me in every endeavor I've taken. Thank you, Pops. I can't wait to live in the same state as you again!

And...wow! It's been a while since I posted about the farm. As I've mentioned before, I have a lot of time to think out in the fields, so I keep a running list of things to write about in my blog. The problem is, if I don't blog everyday, I forget a lot of things. And also if I don't blog everyday, I forget what I've actually blogged about or what I've been THINKING of blogging about. Sheesh. I must be 30. Have I written this already? Anyway...

I've been thinking about summer squash. We've added it to our daily schedule just like opening the greenhouses, watering the plants in the greenhouses, feeding and watering the chickens, collecting eggs, and - previously - picking asparagus, although we have finished with asparagus for the season now. As with any new thing that we learn, I was very excited to finally get the lesson about harvesting and storing squash. We all have a variety of squash that we were assigned to pick regularly so that we can get to know it better. I was assigned to green zucchini, which, if you ask me, is the most camouflaged of them all. We pick it every day because it grows so darn fast! I feel like I am hunting squash when I am out there. Eric tossed a few over his shoulder that had been overlooked in the field for a couple days and therefore were too big to sell. All I could think about when he did that was "Zucchini breeaaad!" I guess there's only so much bread that one can make. We tend to pick squash on the small side, when it's more tender and easy to transport to market. However, this means that the skin punctures easily (fingernails!) and the entire squash perishes more quickly.

One thing I remember Eric saying during his lesson is, "Squash is a very large AND yet very fragile plant. We will be working with these same plants for the next 4 to 6 weeks so we want to treat their large leaves, stems, and stalks with care." He also said that harvesting squash is a bit like surgery in that you ever-so-carefully position your knife to harvest the squash without harming the rest of the plant. Ah yes, I see what he means now. I've sliced off several huge stems with only the slightest over-cut of my harvesting knife. Oops.

Oh, and last but not least, those squash plants have a subtle, fiesty spunk to them. Without realizing it, as I made my way down the row of squash, those gals tore me up! I had tiny gashes, scratches and hives up and down my arms and legs by the time I finished. Hear me out - I will be wearing long sleeves for the rest of squash picking season (though it is still too hot to give up my shorts for pants).

Next? The blueberries are peaking this week! On Friday, four of us picked through all five rows/varieties of blueberries. That was a LOT of picking. I discovered two things that afternoon. One, I am the fastest blueberry picker on our team. Great! The one thing I am good at is going to end soon! And two, blueberries give me a stomach ache! Or at least in the quantity that I was ingesting them. Heh heh.


We also learned to harvest garlic! The garlic was planted clove by clove last fall with Miranda's ex-crew. We are pulling the garlic up out of the ground a little earlier than usual because it is "starting to go soft" in the fields. In other words, the ground is wet and some of the garlic is starting to rot in the ground. We use a pitch fork to loosen the soil beneath the heads of garlic, and then we just pull pull pull 'em up and out. Most of what we pulled up looks great! We are selling some of this garlic fresh at market, but the rest is hanging from the rafters of the old barn so that it can cure. It's beautiful! OH, but I have a quickly growing aversion to the smell of rotting garlic. But then again, who would like that smell?

We were discussing today over a beer how much the farm changes while we're away from it. Things bloom in the greenhouse, cucumbers come into season, most of the garlic gets harvested and strung, etc. I am thinking of this because I nearly missed the boat on scallions. I started getting nervous that the scallions were going to disappear before I had a chance to harvest some because they started during the weekend that I had days off. Luckily, I had the opportunity to pick these purple gals yesterday morning for today's farmers market. And I think there are still a few more in the field. Phew.

Last I gathered, we were up to 161 eggs in one day! That means that we are only waiting for a mere 14 hens to figure it out. Not that they will all be egg-bearing. This is actually a pretty good percentage, but since the number has steadily risen (123, 128, 139, 149, 158...), I have high hopes that the total number of regular eggs will still be a bit higher. Oh, and carrying that many eggs is HEAVY! Here's an idea of how many eggs that is getting to be (although these were taken before the 161 day):

Some of these gals are even laying double-yolked eggs. They are so big, they don't fit in the cartons!

Well, there is always more, but I am getting sleepy. Here is a funny video to end on. It's of me driving up to the chicken coops and the chickens coming a-runnin! Now that most of them are producing eggs, I think their appetites have significantly increased. Or at least their attitudes have. They are growing to be...a bit demanding! I still love 'em. And it still makes me laugh to watch them run alongside the truck when I drive up.

Going to Market Today

This is too late to be staying up before market.

Oops.

Please Become a Bone Marrow Donor ASAP!

I've been thinking all day about what line I am going to use to open my blog today, like:

I worked all day yesterday with a pair of wet purple underwear in my pocket.

or

Squash is a giant, yet fragile plant.

or

Note to self: Don't use soap with seeds in it while working on a farm during tick season. It makes your shower less relaxing.

or

I wish you could see the moon right now.

or

Sometimes there is tension on the farm.

or

I think I have mushed more bugs during the last two and a half months than I have in my lifetime.

or

Have I mentioned that the shed's latest infestation of bugs is some kind of pincher earwig bug? Ugh.

BUT, on a more serious note, I'm starting with:
I just joined the Bone Marrow Registry. Will you?

Prior to signing on to my blog, I read an email update about my friend, Annie. She was diagnosed two weeks ago with Leukemia at age 26. She has already had several blood transfusions and has made it through her first round of chemo. She's been on my mind a lot lately, especially since I can't drop in to see her in DC each time that I think of her. There is a possibility that she will need a bone marrow transplant in the next 2-3 months, and it takes 2 months to get tested, approved, and into the search-able database. So PLEASE JOIN TODAY TO HELP ANNIE and many others.

Here's a picture of Annie dancing (typical!) in the hospital the weekend that she was diagnosed. She's the one on the left. I was so happy to be able to go visit her. Love you, Annie!
Below is a note from Annie's mom and one of her sisters about how to join the registry. And if for some reason you do not qualify, please pass it on to someone you know or post it on your blog, facebook, or webpage. Thank you, dearly.

"Hi everyone. Rachel and Perla here. We'd like to ask all of you to please please please take a few minutes out of your day to consider joining the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry ASAP. You can join in person at a bone marrow donor drive, or YOU CAN JOIN ONLINE. (see below)

Who knows, one of you could be a match for Annie. Imagine how amazing that would be!

Your information takes about 2 months to be added to the registry, so this means that we need you to act right away. We'll update you more on this soon, but the latest and greatest news from Annie's doctor is that she could need the bone marrow transplant in the next 2 to 3 months.

Here's How:

You can use this Web site to enter your zipcode and search for a donor drive near you at a time that is convenient for you. No appointment is necessary:

http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_in_Person/index.html

OR to JOIN ONLINE FOR FREE

1. Go to this link: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html

2. Fill out the information

3. When you get to payment information, enter promo code SDBB2010

4. Receive your kit in the mail

5. Complete the easy cheek swab

6. Return kit via mail

**Please note that if you join the national bone marrow donor registry, you will be eligible to help not only Annie, but anyone else in need.

Here's the gist:
If you are between the ages of 18 and 60 and in general good health, you are eligible to be screened and join the worldwide registry for patients in need. All it takes to find out if you are a match is a simple swab from the inside of your cheek."

Much love to you all and healing energy to Annie...Goodnight.